Lessons Learned
by Bjorkubus
Summary: A series of fluffy and nonsensical Kid FlashxRaven oneshots designed to make you wonder. Also, a challenge inside. Title Change. 2nd oneshot posted.
1. Cooking with Kid Flash

**Non Ho Saputo Questo…**

Translation: _I didn't know this…_ or _I have not known this_…

In an effort to inspire more Kid FlashxRaven fanfiction, I have decided to write a bunch of goob-lee-gosh drabble. Some of this will be romance; others will be friendship. The main point is for you, the reader, to be introduced to something new, be it a food, concept, or other. If I made you stop and go, "Huh, I never knew that," then I did my job. :D Also, a **challenge**!

**Challenge**: MMkay, I don't know how these things usually go, but I'd really like all you KFxR fans to strut your stuff! The idea is to write a one-shot (or a short story) involving Wally and Raven and one of the following themes:

1. Riddle  
2. Numbers  
3. Playing Cards  
4. Roses  
5. Tea  
6. Pastry  
7. Chess

(I'm in a Lewis Carroll/Alice's Adventures in Wonderland mood. Sue me!)

If I like your one-shot (and I probably will, since I like just about any KFxR fanfic!) I'll draw a piece of fanart for you – whichever couple you want!

I'll try to write a one-shot at least once every few weeks, or whenever the mood strikes.

* * *

**Author Note**: Kid Flash will be knowledgeable about certain foods because he's pretty much fast enough to run around the world and try different cuisines to fuel his powers. He's not THAT great of a chef, however, only possessing the basic know-how of cooking. Plus he seems like the type to eat anything.

**Disclaimer**: I don't even officially own my laptop yet. What makes you think I'd own the Teen Titans?

A red-gloved hand turned off the gas stove. Wally West, also known as Kid Flash carefully slid the contents of a heated pan onto a sturdy paper plate as to not drop a precious morsel of food. He'll need every crumb, since food is fuel for his great speedster powers. Kid Flash set his plate on the table and tapped his chin. His head tilted upwards in a daydream, wondering if he had missed something. With a snap of his fingers, he zoomed off to the refrigerator, picked up an ice cold can of ginger ale, and returned all within a second's passing.

Before he could pop the first whatever-he-made into his mouth, the doors leading to the bedrooms opened, and Raven entered, her blue cloak noiselessly flapping behind her. She instinctively went to the cabinets and selected an earl grey blend of tea, grabbed a mug, and set to boiling her water. Wally waved to his new teammate, inviting her to sit with him while he ate.

"Why aren't you inhaling your meal?" she asked, making her way to the table.

"I like to enjoy my food…especially when I make it myself," he replied while giving her his trademark grin. Raven looked at his plate and immediately quirked an eyebrow.

"And what exactly DID you make?" she again asked doing a very good job at hiding the curiosity on her face.

"Quesadillas," he again replied, this time putting one of the tiny empanada-shaped treats in his mouth and chewing happily.

"If I'm not mistaken, aren't those supposed to be made with cheese?"

"Nah," swallowed Wally, "There are different varieties. I learned this recipe when I was running through Mexico and stopped for a refueling break. Wanna try?"

Surprised by his offer, the empath finally sat next to him and nodded. She opened her hand and Kid Flash placed a quesadilla in a napkin in her palm. She sniffed it out of instinct, and put it in her mouth. She tasted garlic, onion, tomato, and something else she couldn't name. It tasted like… corn? It may have been the corn tortilla the stuffing was blanketed in, but she tasted the corn in the filling as well.

"May I have another?" she quietly asked. Wally nodded with a smile and handed her a second. She gently broke it in half, noticing the filling was black, with no sign of yellow kernels. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. Where was the corn?

"The black stuff is a corn fungus, or corn smut." He added nonchalantly as if he read her mind. She immediately dropped the quesadilla on the table in disgust.

Wally couldn't help but chuckle. He picked up what she dropped and simply ate it. He turned to measure her reaction: the look of utter disgust on her face was priceless.

"It's a delicacy in Mexico called cuitlacoche. Does corn truffle sound nicer? I'm sorry for grossing you out."

"Kweet-la-co-cheh?"

"Close enough. Here, wanna try again?" he offered another quesadilla. Raven hesitantly accepted, and now with this new information, she swallowed her disgust (or was it pride?) and ate it. She smiled, now enjoying its sweet, earthy flavor. Her enjoyment was cut short when she heard the teapot whistling.

Little time passed as the resident mystic walked back to the kitchen to retrieve her tea. Raven returned to her seat and Kid Flash continued to tell her what he knew of cuitlacoche. She was genuinely interested, especially how this smooth talking speedster spoke so passionately about food. 'Well, he does eat a lot of it to keep his powers top notch,' she thought to herself.

"Want me to give you a cooking lesson tomorrow? I'll even treat you for coffee and tea afterwards… in Keystone City!" Raven barely caught the question as she realized she had let her mind wander.

"Uhm, alright. But I must warn you that I'm not the best at cooking. I'm sure everyone has told you about my pancakes," she responded while looking away from him.

"Don't worry, this is easy to make. I'll be Iron Chef Wally with my trusty assistant, Sous-chef Raven! Tomorrow at noon? Great!" It was obvious he wasn't going to take no as an answer. She sighed and nodded in defeat. Wally looked up again, his thinking gears turning.

"We'll have to leave the tower by at least one to make it to Keystone by three."

"I don't mind." Kid Flash's eyes lit up.

"It's a date!" he beamed.

"D.. Date?" Raven stuttered. No one had asked her on a date before! Raven flushed and the lights in the kitchen exploded.

Completely un-phased by the explosion, the boy nodded, grinning from ear to ear. There was a twinge of pink on his cheeks, and the empath finally noticed how… handsome the speedster is.

"Yeah! And uhm, how about casual wear? No costumes."

"And no cuitlacoche."

"Promise!"

Raven smirked and finished the last of her tea.

"You better promise, Fleet Feet." Wally smirked at his new nickname.

Raven stood up from her seat and rinsed her mug in the kitchen. When she returned, Kid Flash was nowhere to be found. Only a single quesadilla remained. The mystic swallowed her pride once again and ate it… for Wally.

* * *

Not all that great, ne? ; But yeah, I don't have a beta, and I usually write when I don't feel like drawing. I have a migraine right now, though so apologies for it sounding forced or rushed. There'll be better one shots to come!

A bit more information about cuitlacoche:

_Cuitlacoche_, or _huitlacoche_, is a black fungus that infects corn and kernels. (It makes them all swollen and huge) American farmers consider it a disease and usually do their best to destroy it, but in Mexico, it's considered a delicacy and actually sells higher than corn. I have tried the stuff (and made the quesadillas in my World Cuisine class) and they have an earthy flavor with a light corn sweetness. Thesneeze . com wrote a very funny article about it, and it's a good read, although it may prevent you from wanting to try it.

Here's the recipe

1 can cuitlacoche, chopped up  
3 cloves garlic, minced  
½ white onion, diced  
2 medium tomatoes, diced  
Extra virgin olive oil (eyeball it)  
salt and pepper to taste  
Corn tortilla mix (or premade, if you have some)

In a sauté pan, cook the onion and garlic in oil until the onion is transparent (or translucent). Add the tomatoes and sauté until thoroughly cooked. Add cuitlacoche and continue cooking until liquid evaporates. Season with salt and pepper.

Make corn masa according to the bag the masa comes in. With a tortilla press, make small tortillas, about 2 ½ inches in diameter. Grill on a pan on both sides, about 30 seconds each side. Spoon cuitlacoche mix in the tortilla, fold, and seal, and grill until the tortilla is cooked. Place on a plate lined with paper towels. Eat!


	2. What the Janitor Taught Me

What the Janitor Taught Me

Coda to Teen Titans Go 34 (aka, the Kid Flash issue)

Disclaimer: Don't own them.

* * *

"So, just because you flirted with four or five girls, one of them being myself, she dumped you?"

The gold and scarlet speedster nodded his head at let it hang.

"You're such an idiot."

He nodded again and took a bite out of his apple-cinnamon scone.

"Not saying much today, aren't you, West? You promised me a chat back at the Antarctica checkpoint."

Kid Flash raised his gaze to Raven's piercing amethyst stare. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to form a sentence. Instead he absent-mindedly plugged his mouth with his scone and let the crumbs fall on his lap.

Raven tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lifted her café latte to her lips. For Azar's sake, HE was the one who invited her for coffee and scones at her favorite café. This was definitely strange behavior for the usually hyperactive speedster. Having nothing of value to add to the conversation, she continued to sip her latte and occasionally nibbled on an orange-cranberry scone.

Minutes seemed to pass as Kid Flash fiddled with the crumbs that managed to fall on his plate instead of his uniform. It felt like an hour ago when they had placed another order for more scones, but in real time, it was actually two minutes. A gothic looking boy paused by their table to retrieve Raven and Wally's empty cups and replace them with freshly brewed lattes.

Raven glanced out the window from their booth. She'd much rather be playing Extreme Stankball with Cyborg and Beast Boy than be sitting in an uncomfortable silence with a mopey speedster who usually doesn't know when to shut the hell up. From her window, she spotted a couple of socialite girls with exposed midriffs, expensive jewelry, and nothing but air in their heads. She snickered in disdain and muttered, "Disgusting. Absolutely insulting to human-kind." Not expecting an answer, she heard a gloomy voice add to her spoken thought.

"I know. Wanna go somewhere and talk about it?" It was the goth boy who was refilling their cups. Raven looked up at him, and then back down to Kid Flash. Most certainly, Goth Boy (she had never remembered his name even though she had been on a few dates with him) seemed to be better company that Wally right now, but as annoying as the fastest boy alive could be, abandoning him like Jinx did would only make him feel worse. Like it or not, he was a teammate and, grudgingly, a friend, she supposed.

"Sorry, maybe another time," she drawled out. She waved her hand apathetically, shooing him away like a gnat. Raven took a sip from her fresh cup and savored its slightly sweet flavor.

"I wish I hadn't flirted with Argent and the other girls. Maybe Jinx wouldn't have been so angry with me. But now that I think about it, I wish I had never asked her out. I had only really liked her as a friend. I.. I wish I could just go back and change it all."

It was a sudden confession burst but as quickly as it came, it died, and soon Wally was silent again.

Raven closed her eyes in thought. She combed through her mind for the right words to say.

"Time spent wishing is time wasted," she said softly while still holding her cup to her lips.

Wally's brow furrowed as he sat contemplating her words. 'Time spent wishing IS time wasted. I shouldn't be sitting here moping to myself or dumping it on this pretty girl! What's done is done, and it can't be changed.' The playful glint in his eye returned and Raven, who was watching him take in her words, caught this. His mega-watt grin had also been revived and before she had realized it he had stolen HER half-eaten orange-cranberry scone and inhaled it in record time!

Raven quirked an eyebrow at Wally's ungentlemanly gesture. He wiped the crumbs off his face and his smile never left his features. Even before he was finished swallowing, he began chattering to (rather than with, since she was still silent with annoyance after he ate her delicious scone) her with an unharmed ego.

"So," she managed to catch now that he directly spoke to her and indirectly called for her attention, "Where did you learn that phrase? Was it from one of those noble monks who protected you in your home-dimension?"

"No," she murmured.

"Was it from one of your magic books you keep stashed away in a chest?" he prodded.

Raven flinched inwardly at the thought of _books stashed away in a chest_. She frowned. "No." she verified.

"Well?" Kid Flash tilted his head to the side, setting down his now empty cup. A little bit of café latte dribbled down his chin before he could wipe it away with his glove.

"I learned it from a psychotic stalker-like janitor."

It was Wally's turn to raise an eyebrow. Being the brilliant man that he was, he inquired, "What?"

"From the TV show Scrubs."

"OH!" the speedster yelled. "Hmm, I like that show. Say, who's your favorite character?"

"I like Cox," Raven slapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she realized the double entendre she had created. 'I should have said Jordan,' she thought. A sly gin spread across Kid Flash's face. 'Yep. He's back to normal.'

Come to think of it, he never mentioned he regretted flirting with HER.

* * *

Har har, how LAME! To me, Kid Flash would be a tamer version of The Todd from Scrubs: kind of like Turk, I suppose.

Also the "I didn't know that…" part is the phrase Raven picked up from the Janitor. It's a saying I stick to and it helps me stop feeling sorry for myself whenever I hit a depression. I also changed the title just because I've grown out of my Italian Phase.


End file.
